Black Friday Weekend Sees More Shoppers, Less Spending

The average customer spent $407 during Black Friday 2013

Around 2 million more people went shopping on Black Friday this year than last, but the average customer spent about 4% less than last year.

141 million people went shopping during Black Friday 2013 and the average customer spent $407.02, which is down from Black Friday 2012. This is the first time that the shopping event has experienced a decline in sales since 2009, reports Businessweek.

According to U.S. News & World Report, shoppers spent an estimated $57.4 billion from Nov. 28 through Dec. 1 as compared to $59.1 billion during the same time in 2012.

It’s likely that the decline in sales will result in retailers offering large discounts further into the holiday season.

“Retailers didn’t get what they wanted from Black Friday and they will need to make it up in the next three weeks,” Poonam Goyal, a Bloomberg Industries analyst, told Businessweek. “There will be some panic sales.”